Sunday, April 15, 2007

Ralph Nader was recently a guest on the Riz.Khan show on the Al Jazeera network. It was about a 20 minute interview conducted by Arlen Nido. Not ure of the spelling. It was primarily an interview regarding Ralph Nader's new book "The Seventeen Traditions". There were also many references to a new documentary on the life of Ralph Nader titled "An Unreasonable Man", the title of which is a play on the quotation by George Bernard Shaw (Irish playwright - 1856-1950)

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therfore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

And I am sure Mr. Shaw was also referring to all genders when he spoke that, such as the likes of the great women that pushed for the right for women to vote, to own property, to work outside the home, and many other things, including the right to become president of the United States of America.See video interview below in two, ten minute parts.

What may be further of interest is that the Riz Kahn show ended with a tribute to the New York City Bicycle Messengers, and a clip from some of the wild bike messenger videos being posted on Youtube. Here is an example of one that has gotten over three quarter of a million views, titled "Bike Messengers Are On Crack":

If you have any other good videos you would like to recommend, please send to me or post in the comments so we all can know about them. Thanks!

BTW, I have seen a definite surge in the number of people riding fixed gear bikes in Santa Monica and the westside of about 400-600% in the last few months. I presume the mystique of the fixed gear, it's simplicity, it light weight, films like P.E.D.A.L., growing interest to alternatives to the high cost of gasoline and general cost of car ownership, the grass roots support structures such as the Bicycle Kitchen, and the power of the internet to communicate meaningful ideas that have resonance have had been major contributing factors. And ofcourse having some great opportunities to ride recreationally, such as in critical mass, Bicycle Happenning, and midnight ridazz rides has provided an in person forum for people to share information with each other and support, inspire, encourage, and empower others who want to do that same.

And, interestingly, I found a great tip on how to make a fixed gear cheap using "JB Weld". I will post more about that later. See you on on the stretts! And may on your fixed gear or whatever you like riding. If you have any news items or interesting info, please share. Thanks!